When Charles Omenihu left San Francisco for Kansas City before the 2023 season, the departure left a void in the 49ers’ defensive line rotation due to Omenihu’s flexibility to play inside and outside on the line. Omenihu was acquired for a sixth-round pick, and the move reaped many benefits for the 49ers and Omenihu himself, as he signed a lucrative two-year, $16 million contract with the Chiefs.
The 49ers are looking for lightning to strike twice as Yetur Gross-Matos signed a two-year deal this offseason. Once again, the team is betting on a player’s traits that haven’t been fully realized and hoping to unearth Gross-Matos’ potential as a chess piece for the defensive line.
Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen spoke at length about the 49ers’ plans for Gross-Matos and the abilities that stood out during the first two days of training camp.
“Again, what we liked about him was he’s got size and length and position flexibility, and it flashed on tape. And now you see it in drills. You didn’t get as much kind of team reps. And now to come right into training camp and to have all the juices flowing, you’re getting more reps, you’re seeing more team stuff, you’re starting to see him flash more, which is awesome, which is what we expect from him. It’s still early. It’s been two practices. But, we just think that the more guys that are new that come into our system, they get more comfortable, they get used to the attacking and we just think he’ll just keep getting better.”
Sorensen explained what Gross-Matos brings to the table after describing his untapped potential, specifically for the 49ers defensive scheme.
“Just because of his size, explosiveness. You see the power that he has and the length and how he uses his hands and he’s a loose athlete as well. But, to go along with the size, he’s heavier than you think and he’s got just really heavy hands. So when you can tie that into the explosiveness of his lower body, it fits us really well. Plus like I said, he can go inside and give you some flexibility as a rusher as well.”
Finally, Sorensen was asked about the comparison to players like Arden Key and Omenihu and responded with:
“I think everywhere you kind of have to have those type of guys. Just like, you’ll probably ask about the nickels and the corners or the nickel-safety or anyone. You need that because you don’t dress 90 guys, so you have a certain amount of guys that are on your roster. So when those guys have that flexibility, you never know. You want those guys to be able to do that. They can plug in and go inside and outside. And not everybody can do it, but when they can, it’s cool. It gives them added value for us, added value for our roster.”
The 49ers have no small task in replacing Arik Armstead and Chase Young on the defensive line, but Gross-Matos’ addition, along with Maliek Collins, Jordan Elliott, and Leonard Floyd, will be tasked with just that. Gross-Matos may be a valuable chess piece for Sorenson and the 49ers.
2024-07-26T16:08:52Z dg43tfdfdgfd